


Colossal Debts

by mochegato



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drunk Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Drunkenette, F/M, MariBat, Maribat Secret Santa, Tim is a DD, Timari - Freeform, tim is smitten, timinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:08:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29031432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochegato/pseuds/mochegato
Summary: When Jason got Tim to pick up a drunk friend of his from the bar, on his night off no less, Tim was not expecting a sweet, funny, beautiful woman to be the friend.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 17
Kudos: 300





	Colossal Debts

Jason owed him big for this. Tremendously. Monumentally. Colossally big. This was Tim’s night off. His night to relax at home… with a few cold case files and maybe video games. No family, no obligations, no playing nice. Just him, alone. Not even his friends were going to be over. Just relaxation. But nooooo. Jason called and coerced him into helping him, or more specifically one of his drunken, loud-mouthed, idiot friends. Make no mistake just because he let Jason coerce him into helping, that in no way meant he wasn’t going to collect _big_ on this. Tremendously. Monumentally. Colossally big.

He scanned the room looking for someone who looked like he would be a friend of Jason’s but didn’t see anyone who stood out as an obnoxious jerk. If Jason made him come all the way down here for no reason, Tim was going to make him take his nights for the next month. He yanked his phone out of his pocket to give him a call only to have the phone start ringing before he could get past the lock screen. Speak of the Devil… He pushed the answer button and opened his mouth to ask Jason what the hell, but Jason spoke before he could.

“Where the fuck are you?” he demanded. “You said you were going to the bar.”

“I am at the bar,” Tim hissed back. “I’m looking for your friend but I don’t see anyone that stands out. Are you sure he’s still here?”

“I said ‘her’, dumbass. And yes she’s still there. She just called me saying she was going to walk home since _you_ weren’t there,” Jason growled back. “I swear to God, if something happened while you were fucking around…” he gave an aggrevated sigh. “Look for a woman who looks completely out of place in a seedy bar and way the fuck out of your league. Someone who seems like pure innocence and sunshine… drunk sunshine, _very_ drunk if her friend is anything to go by. Probably pouting and sitting back down after I threatened her to get her not to leave on her own.”

Tim scanned the bar again and saw a petite woman slump into a chair at the end of the bar and drop her head on her arms dramatically. “I can’t see her face, but black hair, small?”

“Probably. Her name is Marinette. Don’t call her small to her face unless I’m there to see you do it. And Tim?” He waited a beat to make sure he had Tim’s attention. “Mistreat her in any way and I will throw parties in your townhouse every night during your entire three month stay in the ICU.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” Tim rolled his eyes. Jason could at least come up with a somewhat new threat. “One wrong move with your drunk girlfriend and you’ll kill me.”

“Not my girlfriend and I won’t be the one to do it. There will be a line. She’ll be at the front of it.” He hung up without further explanation.

Tim sighed and made his way over to the woman he was pretty sure was Jason’s “friend”. He sat down next to the woman close enough to make sure she knew of his presence but far enough away not to invade her personal space.

“Not even remotely interested. Thank you, next.” She mumbled into her arms, lifting one of her arms to clumsily wave him away.

Tim cocked his head to the side with an amused smile. She had an adorable French accent. “First time I’ve been turned down before the person even interacted with me.”

“Exciting day for you. Congratulations.” He was pretty sure she was slurring her words slightly but between the mumbling into her arms and her accent, it was hard to tell.

“Thank you.” He nodded to her even though she couldn’t see it. “I’m Tim.”

“Don’t care,” she singsonged in an annoyed voice.

Tim gave an amused snort. At least she was an amusing drunk. “I’m Jason’s brother. He sent me to come pick you up. I take it you’re Marinette?”

Marinette’s head popped up to take him in and she immediately regretted it, dropping her head back down with a groan. “Too fast. That was a mistake.” She kept her head buried for a few moments to let the blood settle before slowly turning her head to face him, still resting her head on her arms. Tim’s breath hitched slightly when her eyes met his. He eyes were bright and brilliant and utterly captivating. She was looking at him with a soft smile. “So you’re Jason’s brother. Not what I was expecting. Which one are you?”

“Tim,” he repeated with a smile.

“Oh, you’re the smart one.” She nodded with a teasing smile. She raised her head slightly to see him better.

Tim scoffed. “I’m surprised he didn’t say the annoying one.”

“You’re all the annoying one.” She gave him a knowing smile, as though she was letting him in on a joke. Her face suddenly turned serious and penitent. “Thank you for picking me up. I’m sorry for whatever threat he used to get you to come. He’s always been so overprotective. I’m sorry you got caught up in it.” She smiled gratefully at him and Tim’s heart skipped a beat at the sight. 

She suddenly straightened up in her seat and turned back to her empty drink in front of her, frowning at the sight. She moved the ice cubes around, searching intently for liquor she hoped it was hiding. “I’m sorry for interrupting your night.” She turned back to him with concerned eyes. “Oh! _Did_ you have plans for tonight? Were they fun?”

“Uh, no.” He looked down sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was just relaxing.”

“I’m sorry. Oh, you should get a drink! You can celebrate with me. You can’t celebrate without a drink.” She motioned wildly to get the bartender’s attention. She was suddenly very excited, her grin incredibly wide and all signs of weariness and serenity gone. 

Tim stared at her for a few moments trying to figure out how to respond. “No, I’m good,” he said calmly, trying to bring her emotional levels back down. She pouted at him and gave him puppy dog eyes. Tim looked over to her drink to keep from looking her in the eyes. He needed to distract her, and himself. “What are you celebrating?”

“My company! I just officially launched my company on Monday! Isn’t that so cool? It’s so cool.” She nodded to herself. “Oh! We should have a drink to celebrate.”

“Yes, very cool. Congratulations,” he confirmed.

She narrowed her eyes at him and huffed. “I know you’re just patronaging… parrotizing… patronizing! Patronizing me, but I’ll take it anyway because you’re one of the only ones to say it. So, thank you very much.” She gave him an overly wide smile. “You should get a drink to celebrate!” She exclaimed excitedly, eyes opening wide as though she just thought of it.

Tim chuckled. “No, thank you. I’m good and we should probably cut you off too.” He handed his card to the bartender. “I’d like to close out her tab, please.”

She pouted at him, her euphoric mood suddenly plummeting along with her shoulders. “But it’s a celebration.”

“Is this man bothering you?” The bartender eyed Tim suspiciously.

“He doesn’t want to celebrate with me.” She sighed and slumped onto the bar again, resting her chin on her arms. “Nobody wants to celebrate with me. Even my friend left,” she reported morosely.

“I was sent to take her back to her home,” Tim assured the bartender. 

She kept a skeptical eye on him and addressed Marinette again. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Hm?” Marinette looked up at her with a confused look. She looked over to Tim again. “Oh, right. No. Yeah. I’m fine. My brother sent him. If he tried anything, Jason would cut it off.” She returned her unfocused gaze to the bartender. Suddenly she straightened up, hands grasping the edge of the bar almost knocking over her empty glass in the process. “His hand! I meant his hand. He’d cut off his hand! Not…” she surreptitiously looked Tim up and down. She slumped back down into her seat and hid her head in her arms again. “I’m not drunk enough to finish that sentence.”

The bartender nodded with a chuckle and left to ring up the tab.

“So… brother?” Tim prompted her laughing.

“Hm,” she hummed in confirmation. “Self-proclaimed.”

“How did you two meet?”

“Bar fight. In Paris.”

“Of course you did. Did he step in to protect you in the middle of it, start it, or both?”

She scoffed at him. “I started it. Actually, legally, _I_ didn’t start it. The guy who grabbed my ass started it. I just finished it. Jason pretended to be my brother to the cops and made sure I got home safe. We hung out a lot after that for…” she eyed him critically, “… reasons,” she finished uncertainly. “The brother title stuck.” She looked around the bar, eyes drifting from one thing to another with no apparent link. “Stupid cover. Brother,” she scoffed. “His French wasn’t _that_ good.” She turned to Tim with a bewildered look. “And do we look alike? Even a little bit?” 

She scoffed again and faced forward, moving her arms to rest them on the bar with a thump but missed the bar. The momentum threw her forward and her reflexes were just a beat too slow to stop herself from crashing into the bar. She braced herself for the impact but instead felt a soft, warm embrace halting her movement. She looked up at her savior in awe. Tim looked down at her with a soft smile. “Careful. The bar moves.”

Marinette blushed as she settled back on her seat. “Thank you,” she answered quietly, looking away from his eyes. 

Tim nodded and moved back to his seat, but kept his arms around Marinette until he was certain she was stable. “So was the reason you hung out so much after that so he could cover for you in more bar fights?” Tim joked.

Marinette hummed affirmatively. “I know you’re being condensate… condescend… joking, but kind of. They seem to follow us. Or maybe it’s just fighting in general that I can’t get away from.” She frowned at the bar, remembering something that Tim desperately wanted to know more about. He didn’t like the frown on her face. He wanted to get her to smile again.

“I wasn’t trying to be condescending or patronizing. Promise. At least not towards you. Jason, yes absolutely. But not you,” he spoke with sincerity in his voice. 

She stared at him wide eyed for a few moments before looking away shyly. “Okay.”

As if to accentuate her earlier point, he heard loud yelling halfway down the bar. One man stood up and started shoving another over something Tim couldn’t quite make out. Tim jumped out of his seat and reached for Marinette to get her to safety. He’d just come back later to get his card. Protecting Marinette was more important right now.

Marinette brushed his hands away inelegantly. “We’re fine here. That guy there, with the glasses? He’s going to jump in any second now. That’s going to pushl the fight in the other direction. Once _he_ jumps in his friend is going to jump in too. They’re going to be fum… stum… fighting around that big table there. One of them is going to be thrown on it. Probably glasses’ friend. That’s going to get Curly, the bald one? Curly was the bald Stooge right?” Tim opened his mouth to respond but she was already moving on. “So Curly’s going to jump in, right? Once he’s in the bartender is going to pull out that bat and probably the gun she keeps under the bar and stop it, ‘cuz she likes him.” She looked around in panic. “Don’t tell anyone! That’s a secret. I think.” Deciding nobody was around to hear, she slumped back down and continued her narrative. “The fight will move away from us until the bartender ends it.”

Tim eyed her skeptically and turned to watch the bar fight unfold. His mouth dropped as it happened exactly like Marinette had predicted. He whipped his head around when he heard a loud bang next to him. “Oh my God someone stole my phone!” she whisper shouted to him, searching around frantically. 

Tim looked down to the source of the noise, something hitting the floor, he sighed disbelievingly. He bent down and picked up her phone she had dropped and handed it back to her. “It’s right here.”

She looked between him and the phone a few times. “Oh my God,” she whispered out, “you stole my phone.”

Tim stared at her for a few moments and started laughing incredulously. She could predict the events of the fight, incorporating observations of multiple figures, inputting social relationships, attitudes, and physiques, but she couldn’t figure out she dropped her phone. He looked at her fondly for a moment before furrowing his brow when a thought occurred to him. “So… you were here with a friend and your friend just left you alone?” It seemed incredibly irresponsible considering her current state and honestly, Tim was a little worried about what Jason would do to the friend when he found out.

Marinette scoffed. She turned her head to give him an insulted look. “You think he’s better at taking care of me than I am?” She straightened up in her seat to her full height attempting to look more intimidating and faced her body toward him. “Even drunk, I could handle myself as well or better than him.”

Tim held up his hands in mock surrender. “No. I am not doubting your capabilities,” he tried to placate her. “I’m just saying having more than one person, especially when drinking is involved is safer.

Marinette stared at him for a few moments deciding if she thought he meant it or not before seeming to come to the conclusion he meant it. She nodded at him. “Agreed. To be fair though, he…” She raised her arm up, propped her elbow on the bar, and sloppily plopped her chin on her hand, staring at him intently. “…you have gorgeous eyes.”

Tim gaped at her and blushed, caught off guard by the sudden change in topic. “Than…”

“To be fair,” she continued not letting him finish his expression of gratitude and returning her glossy stare toward the bar. “He wasn’t exactly sober either and his girlfriend was caught in that rogue attack across town and he was too worried about her to think straight. That’s probably why you’re here instead of Jason anyway.” Tim whipped his head around to see who was close enough to hear her, but almost the entirety of the bar was focused on the remains of the fight. There was nobody close by, but she was drunk enough to suddenly start announcing things loudly enough for everyone in the bar to hear. He really, really needed to get her out of there but they were still waiting on his card and the receipt. 

Marinette suddenly furrowed her brow and looked down at the bar top. “Oh. I don’t think I was supposed to say that.”

He tried to fix her with a stern look but it came out softer than he intended. “What did you mean by that?”

Her face quickly morphed to a blank expression when she faced him again. She blinked a few times. “By what? I don’t know what I said. I don’t know anything, not a thing. Mind completely empty.” She tried to tap her temple to indicate where her brain should be, in case Tim needed the visual reminder, but flinched back when she accidentally poked herself in the eye instead. She scrunched her eyes shut and turned toward the bar again. “And filter completely missing,” she tried to mutter under her breath, but instead said it just as loudly.

Tim stared at her for a few moments uncertain how he felt about her clearly knowing their secret, or at least Jason’s and having the will but clearly not the ability to keep quiet about it. He burst out laughing, deciding giving into the absurdity of the situation was the best response. “You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” He nodded to the bartender who just returned his card after dealing with the fighters.

“I know,” she announced in an exasperated voice and throwing her arms out to the side. “You would think I’d be better by now. You should hear… I really like your smile, too.” She smiled sweetly at him.

Tim smiled self-consciously. “I like yours too.”

She beamed back at him and turned back to the bar. “… hear some of the excuses I’ve come up with.” She turned to Tim with a desperate look on her face. “I once said I had to water my hamster. I don’t even have a hamster.” She looked back to the bar again and slumped back into her seat. Her face turned sad. “I want a hamster.” 

She waved her arms wildly as a thought occurred to her. “Wait!” She looked at him with panic in her eyes. “If Jason’s your brother and my brother… does that make you my brother too?”

Tim stared at her for a second. “No. Not even remotely.”

“Are you sure? Transitive properties and all.” She looked at him uncertain.

“I am absolutely positive. In no way could you be considered my sister,” he promised.

She sighed in relief, relaxing back into her seat with a contented smile. “Okay, good. You should get a hamster.”

“I think it’s time to get you home,” he said shaking his head and getting up. He reached out to help her up and support her.

She looked over at him stricken. “Oh no, I made you uncomfortable! Do you have a pho… phoban?” she scrunched up her face in concentration. “Phobia!” she announced proudly. Before leaning into Tim. “Do you have a fear of hamsters? I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought them up. It’s okay, you don’t need to get one.”

Tim fought the smile that wanted to appear on his lips at her concern. “No,” he assured her.

“Oh.” She looked down trying to come up with another reason for his sudden decision to leave. “Did I make you mad because you hate hamsters?” She asked in a very serious tone like that was the most rational next explanation.

He didn’t even fight the smile and chuckle this time as he wrapped his arm around her waist to help her toward the exit. “No. I have no opinions on hamsters at all.”

“Well that’s just sad,” she dismissed him and curled into his side, allowing him to guide her outside. After a few steps she stopped and stood up straight. “I annoyed you!” she moaned ruefully.

“No.” He ran his hands up and down her arms to calm her and get assure her he was not upset. His breath hitched when she turned her watery, shining blue eyes to his, pausing his hands as he got lost in her gaze. He shook his head to focus back on the task at hand, not hitting on the beautiful, sweet, funny, interesting, _drunken_ friend of Jason. “It’s just getting late and I think you could use some sleep,” he said gently.

“Oh… okay,” she answered slightly dazed from his gaze as well. Her gaze shifted to take in his face. “You’re very handsome. You have great hair too. Does it naturally do that?” She reached up to touch his hair, but jerked her hand back so violently she would have fallen over if Tim wasn’t supporting her weight. “I am _so_ sorry. That was not okay. I forgot you’re just here because Jason asked you. I don’t know you and I can’t just touch you without your permission.”

Tim looked down pointedly at his arm around her waist but she completely missed the look. She groaned and hid her head in her hands. Tim tightened his grip around her waist and continued leading her to his car. “It’s okay. I’m glad I came down and met you. And, if I was offended I would have tried to move away instead of leaning into it. You can touch my hair if you want,” he assured her. “And anything else,” he muttered under his breath.

She looked up at him with a cute look of wide eyed confusion. “What?”

“What?” he answered back just as innocently. “Um… So… You and Jason are close?” He asked carefully trying to distract her while he opened his car door for her.

She hummed noncommittally. “As close as Jason lets anyone get. He’s like the big brother I never wanted. I think I was adopted against my will.”

“Oh?” He prompted as he closed the door. He needed her to stay awake so he knew where to take her. And it had the added benefit of allowing him to get to know her a bit better… and possibly blackmail on Jason.

She hummed again when he got in on the driver’s side. He watched her fumble with the seat belt as she spoke. “Something about the dead heroes club?”

He froze. He snapped his eyes to hers. “You were a hero?”

Her eyes bugged out and snapped up to his. “Noooo, what?” She looked back down at the belt latch, trying a few more times to get it to click. She huffed after a few more tries. “Reverse polarization.”

“What?” Tim asked her trying to figure out where the hell that had come from.

“Reverse polarization. That must be it. The… the square part is repelling the other square part. That’s why I can’t get it to work.” She nodded to herself. “Reverse polarization. They don’t _want_ to be together.” She paused for a moment. “If that isn’t some kind of symbolism… I don’t know what for, but something.”

Tim gave an amused smile and pushed the latch into the buckle. Marinette gasped and looked at him in awe. “How did you stop the polarization?”

“Magic,” Tim answered looking away, fully realizing there would be no way to explain the lack of magnets involved.

Marinette gasped. “You’re magic too?” She stared at him excitedly for a few moments before her face scrunched up again. “You guys aren’t magic. Batman doesn’t like magic. You lied.”

Tim stared at her, thinking very carefully about his next words and running through all the things she just revealed. First, she knew he was a bat. Second, she knew Batman didn’t like magic. Third, she said ‘too’. So either she knew someone who was magic or she was magic. Fourth, she had taken him seriously and thought he was lying to her. He decided the last one was the immediate issue. The rest could be dealt with when she woke up in the morning. Or when he could corner Jason. “Sorry, it was a joke. I didn’t think you would take me seriously. I’m sorry for misleading you. It was not my intention,” he promised solemnly.

Marinette studied him and cocked her head to the side and finally nodded. “Okay. I don’t like liars. Even though I am one, but I don’t like it.”

“So why do you?”

“Have to,” she shrugged.

“Because you’re a hero, like Jason?” he prompted again.

“Hero’s not the right word.” She shook her head jerkily. “You don’t have heroes.”

Vigilante,” he suggested.

“Yes!” She looked excitedly at him then realized their conversation. “Nooooo.” She looked straight out the windshield. Tim focused on the road as well and pulled out into traffic. “I was never a vigilante,” she continued absentmindedly.

“Were you a hero?” he asked again. “A hero that died and came back?”

“Hm? What?” She raised her eyebrows at him as though seeking clarification. “I’m sorry my English isn’t very…” she screwed up her eyes to think, “… well.” She nodded proudly at herself.

Tim scoffed at her. “Your English is excellent. You have to focus to mess it up.”

“Aww, thank you!” she beamed at his praise. “I haven’t been speaking it very long.”

He opened his mouth to press the subject but decided that wouldn’t be fair to her. He wouldn’t want someone to take advantage of him if he were in a weakened state. He wouldn’t do it to her. “Where do you live?”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the door’s glass. She rambled off her address. Tim chuckled lightly. “I meant here… in Gotham. Not France.”

Marinette’s eyes flew open. “Oh! Um.” She frowned to think about it. They hadn’t been living there very long and she remembered more by sight than by actual address. “6th street. No 7th. 8th? 9th. Definitely 9th. Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly at him and closed her eyes again. “No!” she jumped forward, “27th!” She looked away and frowned. “No, that’s not right either.”

Tim sighed and tried not to smile at the cute faces she was making. He decided this was absolutely fruitless. The only solution would be to call Jason. He picked up on the fourth ring with an annoyed voice. “No, you can’t date her.”

“That was not the question. And also, fuck you. Where does your girl live?”

“She’s not mine and why don’t you ask her?” After a beat, he amended himself. “Actually, she is. She’s mine. You can’t date her.”

Tim scoffed at him. “She already said you adopted her like a little sister. B rub off on you, Jay?” He smirked as he drove knowing exactly the face and gestures Jason was making to that. Before he could respond, Tim continued, “She doesn’t remember her address.” He looked over to her. Her head was resting on the glass again and her eyes were closed. Her breathing was even and her mouth hung open slightly. “And I’m pretty sure she just fell asleep. I can link to the batcomputer and look it up, I guess.”

“NO! I don’t want B to know about her yet.”

“Why,” Tim asked suspiciously, the previous conversation about magic popping into his mind. It could be just Jason being Jason and wanting to keep everyone at arm’s length or it could mean something was going on with this woman and he didn’t want Bruce to act on it.

“Because it’s B. I want her off his radar as long as possible.”

“That tells me exactly nothing.” He rolled his eyes. “Is she dangerous?”

“Only if you try to grab her ass or try to hurt someone. I just don’t want Bat dad getting his hands on her,” he explained, his growing annoyance clear in his voice.

“So, she _is_ a hero, a magical one.” Tim nodded at the confirmation.

“No…” Jason answered tentatively. “… It’s complicated. And I’m not going to explain it. Just… take her to your place for tonight.”

“Why my place?”

“She needs some place to crash. She’s a good person. And you want to hook up with her despite me telling you to back off.”

Tim nodded his head to the side in acknowledgement. He wasn’t wrong. And if she slept at his place tonight he could keep an eye on her to make sure she was okay and maybe talk to her in the morning. “Fine. I’ll take her to my place.”

“And Tim?”

“Yes?”

“You sleep on the couch.”

“You know I have a guest room, right? A few, in fact.”

<><><><><>

The next morning came earlier than Tim was prepared for. He really wanted to stay in bed for a few more hours, but he was afraid of Marinette waking up in a strange bed and freaking out with nobody there to answer questions. He dragged himself out of the guest bed and started making coffee for them. He would have started breakfast for them, but he didn’t know how long she would be sleeping and he couldn’t cook. He just decided he could order some food to be delivered when he heard shuffling from the kitchen entrance. 

He looked up to see Marinette in the doorway, nervously rubbing her arms, an anxious smile on her face. She looked absolutely beautiful despite being a bit rumpled and disheveled. “Hi,” she waved awkwardly.

Tim gave her a disarming smile. “Hi.”

She looked around uncertainly. “Um… if you don’t mind me asking… Where am I?” The apprehension was clear in her voice.

Tim smiled calmly, trying to reassure her that she was safe. “You’re in my townhouse.”

“Right, right. Cool. Cool.” She shifted nervously. “And we didn’t?” She motioned vaguely between them.

Tim’s smile widened at her expression. “No. I slept in the spare room.”

“Oh thank god.” She let out a relieved breath. “I didn’t think we did considering I’m still dressed but… Oh, no offense to you. I just…”

“Weren’t yourself or able to make responsible decisions last night?” He asked with an amused glint in his eyes and a smirk. He motioned to a chair at the counter.

“Yes.” She sighed out, grateful for his understanding. She suddenly straightened unnaturally stiff and studied him apprehensively for a few moments. “You say that like you know I wasn’t making responsible decisions last night. Tell me I didn’t do anything I should regret or be embarrassed about last night, please.”

“Other than saying you wanted to jump me and get married and have babies in a house filled with hamsters?” he offered innocently.

“OH MY GOD!” Her face turned bright red faster than she could bury it in her hands to hide it.

His laughter boomed out of him. “I’m kidding. I’m totally kidding.” He only laughed louder when she gave him an absolutely adorable pout. 

“That was not funny. You’re mean.” She sat down in the offered chair with a huff. “Stop being mean to the hungover urchin you housed for the night.”

His laughter calmed quickly and he had the decency to look guilty. “I’m sorry. You’re right. That was mean. You were perfectly polite and sweet all night. You didn’t do anything embarrassing at all. The only thing I would be embarrassed about in the morning was telling me my eyes were pretty and I was handsome. Which isn’t even embarrassing, I’m just easily embarrassed. It was very nice to hear though.”

The rosy color returned to her cheeks as she studied his eyes searching them to see if he was telling the truth this time. She must have found that he was because she looked down and nodded. “Yeah, drunk me is very honest.” Tim blushed slightly at her admission. “I swear I’m not usually like that. My friend and I were just celebrating and things spiraled.”

Tim nodded in understanding. “Congratulations again, in case you don’t remember me saying it last night. You never said what kind of company it is.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a grateful smile. “It’s a fashion company. I’m a designer. I’m really excited to finally have a store front up and running.” She looked around his townhouse, really looking at it for the first time. “Um… no offense. Who are you?

Tim chuckled. “And drunk you has no memory retention.”

“I am _so_ sorry,” she moaned into her hands.

He chuckled. “Don’t be. I don’t drink often but when I do, I’m pretty much the same, and significantly less cute in the process.” Marinette blushed and looked down to try unsuccessfully to hide it. “I’m Tim. I’m Jason’s brother. He asked me to pick you up last night since he was helping with the rogue attack.”

“He was?” She looked at him, the picture of innocent confusion.

“Oh, sober you is much better at acting dumb than drunk you.” Tim commented with a shake of his head and handed her a cup of coffee. “I’m impressed. I would have believed that if I didn’t know better.”

Her eyes widened at him. “What did…”

“Just that you knew Jason was a vigilante. Is there more?” he asked with a teasing smile.

She opened her mouth to deny it before she thought better of it and narrowed her eyes at him playfully. “You were going to be nice to the hungover urchin. I’m too hungover for mind games.”

“I actually never said that. But I’m willing to make it up to you.” He offered her a charming smile and leaned across the counter toward her. “Want to go get breakfast? My treat. We can talk and get to know each other… if you want.”

Marinette beamed at him, “I would love to.” She suddenly got a mischievous glint in her eye. “How pissed do you think it will make Jason?” Tim hummed noncommittally. Honestly he wasn’t sure. Jason seemed surprisingly okay with Tim bringing her to his house, but Jason was also extremely overprotective of the people he cared about so…

She leaned forward conspiratorially with a devious grin. “We should take a picture that makes it look like more is going on and send it to him.” Tim raised his eyebrows in surprise. Did she just… “Actually, maybe not.” She waved away the idea and leaned back in her chair again. “You’d be the one that would have to deal with the aftermath of that. That wouldn’t be fair and Jason can be an absolute asshole when he’s being protective.”

“Jason would _hate_ it. Let’s do it.” Tim’s expression morphed to match her previous grin.

Marinette’s face brightened with excitement. “Really?”

Tim nodded, “I am always up for messing with my brothers.”

Marinette looked away shyly. “Okay, well, I was thinking you could take a picture of me kissing your cheek and send it to him? If you’re okay with me doing that.”

“I am absolutely okay with you kissing me,” Tim nodded, pulling out his phone. His cheeks colored quickly when he realized what he said. “I mean…”

“Ready?” she interrupted, the slight blush on her cheeks the only indication that she had heard him.

He nodded mutely and positioned the phone to take the picture. He nearly dropped the phone when he felt her soft lips brush against his cheek. It took a moment for him to remember he was supposed to be taking a picture of the kiss, not just enjoying it. Too quickly, she pulled away, looking at him with expectant eyes. “Did we get it? How does it look?”

He stared at her dumbly for a few seconds, still recovering from the kiss. “Um, right,” he turned to view the picture. “You look gorgeous. It! It looks gorgeous. I’ll just… I’ll send it to Jason.” His fingers fumbled through the screens to send the picture. Would she mind if he set it as his screensaver? It wasn’t creepy if the picture was her idea, right?

“And… could you send it to me too?” she asked timidly.

He looked up at her in surprise and quickly gave her a happy grin. “How about you take one with your phone. Maybe I can kiss your cheek this time.”

Marinette’s cheeks turned bright pink. She bit her lower lip and nodded at him. Tim grinned as he leaned forward to press a kiss to her cheek. Maybe he owed Jason instead. Tremendously. Monumentally. Colossally big.


End file.
